


Dance of the Dahlia

by Eeva21



Category: The Mystwick School of Musicraft
Genre: Boarding School, F/F, Magic, Music, School
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:41:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23350345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eeva21/pseuds/Eeva21
Summary: Hello!This is a fanfic based off of Jessica Khoury's book, "The Mystwick School for Musicraft". I don't think you have to know the plot line of the actual book because this takes place a couple years before Amelia goes there.But, basically, it's where playing instruments can create magic and The Mystwick School for Musicraft is a boarding school kind of like Hogwarts where students (from grade 7 to 12) learn about Musicraft.I definitely won't be posting regularly but I hope to most more often than usual since I'm writing this during self-isolation.Also, please note that I almost never edit my own work so I'm so sorry if there are any mistakes.Anyway, enjoy!
Relationships: Rosa Guerrera/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> This is a fanfic based off of Jessica Khoury's book, "The Mystwick School for Musicraft". I don't think you have to know the plot line of the actual book because this takes place a couple years before Amelia goes there.
> 
> But, basically, it's where playing instruments can create magic and The Mystwick School for Musicraft is a boarding school kind of like Hogwarts where students (from grade 7 to 12) learn about Musicraft.
> 
> I definitely won't be posting regularly but I hope to most more often than usual since I'm writing this during self-isolation.
> 
> Also, please note that I almost never edit my own work so I'm so sorry if there are any mistakes.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Molly is more interested in the seagulls, to be honest. They are squawking away loudly, swimming in the orange and yellow sky. 

They don’t have to be stuck in an itchy dress playing the Bridal Chorus on repeat. The green magic that swirls through Molly’s harp strings is more like smoke and she has the urge to cough.

But she doesn’t. She has played at enough weddings to know that the smoke doesn’t make her cough. 

Molly is supposed to be professional.

Anyways, this isn’t just  _ any  _ wedding. It’s her favourite cousin’s wedding. Joanna who used to braid her hair. Joanna who used to play house with her. Joanna who didn’t expect her to be a Maestro. Joanna who asked Molly to play at her wedding when her boyfriend finally proposed after ten years together out of high school.

And of course Molly had said  _ yes. _ She hadn’t seen Joanna for five years because she had moved to Mexico to live with Jerome who, at the time, was her boyfriend. 

What she wasn’t expecting was how much her Joanna had changed. She was no longer full of energy and so bright that she could light up all of Canada, but dim and much more subdued. Joanna almost looks  _ grey _ .

Molly turns her gaze back to the tall, glass, vase where a bulb is steadily growing into a ruby red rose. It’s shrouded in green mist coming from her harp.

The first and third rules of Mystwick are that  _ a spell can charm or do great harm. Before you play, clear the way _ and  _ with all your soul do play your part, for magic rises from the heart _ . But Molly learned from her mom how to place things on the back burner. It’s rather useful.

The large tent over the beach isn’t nearly enough to shade the ceremony underneath. Molly wishes she could play a cooling spell instead. Molly’s neck is burning and she wonders if she’ll get sunburn. She never had one before. 

Finally, Uncle Pete hands off Joanna to Jerome. Molly wishes she could have shouted at Joanna to not marry this man who looks like the embodiment of stupid. 

She knows she should be happy for Joanna but all Molly wishes is that Joanna was more like herself.

Molly finally finishes the Bridal Chorus with a glissando up her strings and then lays her harp back onto its legs. 

The red rose is practically gleaming and Molly sees a couple of children in the chairs her age gaping at it. While it  _ is  _ pretty, Molly has seen that rose so many times that sometimes she dreams about it wrapping itself around her and sticking its thorns into her body.

When the wedding officiator asks if there are any people who object to Joanna and Jerome’s marriage, Molly searches the audience's faces for  _ anything _ . But everyone’s tearing up and crying and seems  _ happy  _ for Joanna and Jerome.

Molly wants to cross her arms but it’s too unprofessional.

As the officiator pronounces them husband and wife, Molly leans her harp against her right shoulder again and begins playing Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, even more green magic being produced from the song. 

As Joanna and Jerome walk down the aisle, hand in hand, with matching fake smiles, Molly watches as dozens of white flower petals shower them.

At the reception, in the dance hall on the beachfront, as the sun sinks lower and lower behind the horizon, Molly’s job is finally done and she can party and have fun and eat supper.

But Molly isn’t in the mood for partying. However, she is starving. After eating her child’s meal (she doesn’t understand why the adults get to have a fancy meal when all she gets is chicken nuggets and fries that are definitely bought at a fast food place—she’s  _ nine _ , not two), she slips away as the supper tables are being cleared away to make room for the dance floor. 

Molly doesn’t bother to grab a coat, there is still a sliver of sunlight outside. But as soon as she shuts the door, she instantly regrets it. The wind has picked up just a bit and goosebumps break out over her arms.

But Molly doesn’t want to go back inside. She doesn’t want to see Joanna and Jerome’s first dance or  _ anything _ . She had to witness them kiss about a dozen times when her family members clanged their utensils on their wine glasses. She has seen enough.

Molly keeps walking down to the beach where there are still plenty of people trying to get their last glimpse of the sun before tomorrow or still swimming or has already made fires.

She stops at the shoreline, takes off her Flip Flops and picks them up before walking into the warm water. 

Molly stays there shivering, staring at the glistening water that looks like silk. Then, the sun is gone and it becomes even colder.

Suddenly, a smooth sound of saxophone picks up but Molly doesn’t recognize the song. Molly sees blue dust land on her body. Warmth spreads through her body and her limbs tingle. She flexes her fingers and turns to the saxophonist. 

Molly is expecting an adult—maybe Uncle Sal. But she isn’t expecting a girl around her age who is just managing to hold up an alto saxophone.

The girl has short fluffy brown hair and a chubby face. She’s short and looks to be Hispanic. She’s really pretty. 

The girl finishes her song and then lets it drop, the harness catching the instrument mere millimeters from the sand. She grins up at Molly with delight. “Are you warmer now?”

Molly smiles at the girl. “Yeah, thanks! You’re really good, by the way!”

The girl smiles even brighter. “Thanks!” She seems to take in Molly’s outfit and her eyebrows crinkle. “Are you supposed to be at the wedding?” She nods her head towards Joanna and Jerome’s wedding reception.

Molly sighs and tucks a loose piece of hair behind her ear. “Yeah. My cousin. She wanted me to play my harp.”

The girl narrows her eyes at Molly’s tone but doesn't say anything. She smiles once again, “come on. My towel’s over here.” The girl begins walking and Molly follows without a moment’s hesitation.

The girl’s towel is a black towel with a massive, yellow, saxophone graphic. She has a weird plastic thing and about a dozen spools of string. “I was making bracelets.” The girl explains and sits down on the towel, pulling her saxophone off and laying it gently next to her.

Molly picks up a spool of yellow string and then a sparkly purple one before putting them back down again.

“I was making one for my mom.” The girl continues and holds up the long plastic thing where a half-made bracelet is laying. It’s red, black, and gold and the pattern is like a bunch of arrows pointing down.

“Wow! Can you teach me?” Molly asks.

“Of course! How about we make friendship bracelets for each other?”

Molly nods excitedly as the girl pulls off her mom’s bracelet and puts it to the side before pushing all her spools of string towards Molly. “What colour do you want yours to be?”

Molly sifts through the string until her eyes find the sparkly purple one again. She picks it up. “I love this one. It’s so pretty.”

The girl grins. “It’s my favourite too! We can make matching ones! We’ll add some sparkly white to it as well so it looks different instead of just all purple—“

Molly picks up a darker shade of purple. “—We could also add in some of this!”

The girl grabs the string. Her eyes sparkle. “I like your thinking.”

Fifteen minutes later, the two of them have matching purple bracelets.

The girl begins playing the warmth spell again to warm them both up again. Molly thinks that perhaps it’s an original piece or something. Maybe just a piece she hasn’t heard before. The whole beach is almost empty except for a couple of bonfires.

Molly’s laying on the towel, watching the blue magic settle on her skin when a pair of legs stop at their towel. Molly sits up. The music stops.

It’s a teenager she doesn’t recognize. He looks annoyed. “ _ There you are _ . Mom and dad have been worried about you. You know you’re supposed to come home before sundown.” The boy bends down and yanks the girl up by the arm. “Grab your stuff.”

It seems that only then does he see that Molly is there. He glares at her. “Alright, scram little girl. Go back to your party or whatever.”

“León!” The girl protests.

Molly suddenly realizes she never asked for the girl’s name. She opens her mouth to ask—perhaps they could hang out again later. 

“Well? What are you looking at? Get!” León snaps.

The girl frowns but then points to her friendship bracelet around her wrist. Molly looks down at her own and smiles.

And then she walks away.


	2. Chapter 2

Even though the sun isn’t up, it looks deceivingly like a nice day. But it’s freezing cold. This is normal fall weather in Canada. While Molly is wearing a yellow hoodie and a pair of sweatpants, the poor stewardess has on a massive green parka and what looks like to be a knitted hat and scarf.

“Ticket?” She asks, putting her leather gloved hand out.

Molly gives the woman her purple ticket before beginning to climb the metal ladder, a massive parrot shooting down the zeppelin to get her suitcases and harp.

Inside the zeppelin are only three other students—all looking so incredibly young that Molly has the fleeting thought that perhaps there was a mixup and these are all guppies.

The stewardess comes aboard and gives Molly a couple of sticks of purple gum. She immediately puts one in her mouth.

The three students seem to all know each other as they are sitting next to each other and leaning together, whispering so loudly that Molly can’t even pretend she isn’t listening.

“I can’t believe it!” The curly red haired girl hisses. “Why would she come to Mystwick  _ now _ and not when she was in grade seven like the rest of us?”

“I heard she didn’t even have to audition or play a piece,” the guy with an uncanny amount of bracelets around his wrists comments with a wrinkled nose. “She’s just  _ that _ privileged and entitled.”

“I searched her up on Google and she was dressed up like a Barbie!” A girl with black hair like curtains scoffs. “Frills and makeup and a little chihuahua in her handbag!”

Molly rolls her eyes but nervously fiddles with her hoodie’s sleeves. She has heard enough gossip from her mom—she doesn’t need to be listening to it on her way to school too. “She must’ve auditioned or played  _ something  _ because she needs to plant her Echo Tree.” Molly interrupts.

The three students swivel to look at Molly with a frightful expression except for the curtain haired girl who still looks disgusted.

The guy is the first to react. He crosses his arms. “I suppose.”

The curly haired girl eyes Molly. “You going to be in her grade?”

Molly purses her lips and nods. “Yeah, I think.” She decides not to mention that she is probably going to be rooming with her too.

“Have you ever met her?” The redhead asks again.

“What? Of course not.”

All of them jump when the organist runs her hand against the keys to create a blasting glissando.

And then they are off.

“My name’s Ezra.” The guy says after a couple of seconds.

“Tara,” the redhead adds with a nod and then points to the other girl. “That’s Sakura.”

Sakura throws her a peace sign.

“I’m Molly.”

Tara goes right back to gossiping. “When I Googled her there weren’t any pictures of her when she was young! It’s like she didn’t even have a  _ childhood _ .”

“What if she’s a robot pretending to be a human and her family only created her just now and that’s why she’s coming to Mystwick so late?” Sakura says as quietly as she could while still being heard over the organ. Her voice has a conspiring tone to it.

Molly’s eyes bug out of her head. No one could possibly think—

—Tara and Ezra bust out laughing. “She’s just joking,” Ezra says through chuckles.

Sakura toothily smiles from behind her hair.

Molly rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.

The zeppelin then comes to a halt and everything is forgotten as the four of them turn in their chairs to look out the window, wanting to catch their first glimpse at their new surroundings once the thunderclouds evaporate.

They seem to be somewhere rural as Molly can only glimpse two farmhouses.

Molly squints and a grin spreads across her face. She can recognize that purple hair anywhere.

Seconds later, after he hugs his parents, Maxton pops his head up and climbs aboard the zeppelin.

Molly undoes her seat belt and runs toward him to bring him into a hug. “Max!”

“Molly!” He exclaims and lifts her up. “This is awesome! We’ve never been picked up by the same zeppelin before!”

As they both sit back down, Maxton talking all about how fun his summer had been, Molly notices Tara open her mouth and lean towards Ezra and Sakura. “Isn’t that the—?“

Sakura nudges her sharply in the side. “Shut up and chew your gum or I will literally pull it out so you’ll be vomiting all over the floor.”

Tara snaps her mouth shut and Molly shares a private smile with Sakura.

By the time the zeppelin finally arrives at Mystwick, the sun has risen over the Rockies. It feels good to be back in Canada, even if her home is on the other side of the country. 

The zeppelin is full of hungry children and as soon as the ladder hits the ground below it’s every person for themself and the shouts of the stewardess can’t stop the students from sliding down the ladder like a fireman pole.

Molly makes her way down normally but she watches as Max slides down the ladder, a twinkle in his eyes and a massive grin on his face.

They walk to the bunkhouses together, reminiscing on their younger years at Mystwick.

“I’m going to miss having you as my roommate.” Molly eventually says. “I loved rooming with my best friend.”

Max just smiles. “I think it’s a good thing. You need to make more friends than just me.”

“I don’t want a new friend.” Molly says with crossed arms.

“Even if it’s beach girl?” Max replies, stopping at the fork in the path where they’d split to go to their bunkhouses.

“How many times have we been over this? She’s not her! We’ve done so much research and she looks nothing like her!”

Max shrugs. “Even if she isn’t the love of your life, it’d still be nice to be friends with her.”

“I highly doubt she’d want to be friends with me. And you sound like my mom:” she raises the pitch of her voice “ _ befriend her and then you’ll have good connections when you’re older! _ ” She then speaks in her normal voice. “Like the only thing you can get from a friendship is connections. Also, she’s not the love of my life.”

“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Maybe she’s super nice,” And then Max starts down the boy’s bunkhouse path.

Molly huffs.

Max turns his head around. “See you at lunch! And she  _ is  _ the love of your life.”

Molly takes the other path and is glad she doesn’t have to drag her harp through the rocky terrain.

Inside the bunkhouses are a bustle of activity. It’s like looking at bees in a beehive.

Grade 7’s are poking their heads out of their rooms as the older kids flood in and begin unpacking. Some of them still look wet from the senior captains’ prank. 

Molly prays that she doesn’t get chosen as a senior captain in two years.

As Molly nears her dorm, she notices an uncanny amount of other students surrounding her door. When they finally notice Molly coming they part so Molly could see the metal platings on the door.

_ Molly Page _

_ Rosa Guerrera _

The senior captain, Vartika, seems to then appear from thin air. She claps her hands like a tour guide, “alright, people, go back to your dorms. We don’t want to suffocate anybody in these halls!”

Molly smiles thankfully at Vartika who just nods in response before walking back down the hall.

Molly then stands in front of the door, staring. She almost doesn’t want to go in. Having a new roommate feels weird. She wants Max back.

But she takes out her whistle after a few seconds and blows the three notes.  _ B-D-F. _

Molly pushes open the door and prays the room is empty. She’d rather be the first one to arrive than be stared at as she walks in.

The room is empty.

Molly breathes out in relief.  _ Thank God _ .

Her harp and all her luggage is on the left side of the room. It looks just the same and it will feel better when she makes the bed. 

She smiles as she sees the dent in her desk from when her and Max had a sword fight with sticks they had found outside.

Molly then turns her attention to Rosa’s stuff which is packed in matching pastel pink hard-shell luggage. There are three saxophone cases and Molly assumes Rosa brought her tenor, bass, and alto. Maybe even a soprano if her alto case is one of those ones that can fit both.

Molly needs to get her attention away from Rosa so she pulls out her sheets and blankets from her suitcase and begins to make her bed.

First the white, fitted, sheet with small music notes scattered on it. Then the matching sheet over it. Then the two wool blankets and then the quilt all of her family made together after she got accepted into Mystwick. One square for every family member, decorated however they liked.

Molly’s favourite is the one her Aunt Nell made. She had embroidered a flute and harp on a yellow square with purple pitcher plants surrounding them.

Molly then begins to pin up some pictures on her wall. Her family and friends—which just is Max—some of her at a young age playing the flute, her secondary instrument. 

Another picture is one of her favourites. It’s of her and Joanna when Molly was just five. Her parents had been too busy with work to take her on her first day of Kindergarten so Joanna drove her and took a picture of them in front of her school.

Molly begins to step back to admire her handiwork. But her bed at home is much wider than the one at Mystwick and her foot doesn’t find her soft quilt but just empty air. She tumbles backwards and hits into something she doesn’t remember being there.

The object behind her tumbles to the ground and Molly hits her head on the wall that Rosa’s bed is up against.

And on the floor is Rosa Guerrera. She’s holding her head and Molly hates herself for thinking that she looks prettier in person than in pictures.

Molly is standing almost instantly and she holds out a hand to Rosa. “Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to! I just misplaced my foot—“

“—It’s fine.” Rosa brings her arms up, one arm on each bed, and heaves herself up.

Her hair is still perfectly straightened and halfway down her back. She’s wearing a light pink headband that matches her suitcases and Sakura was right about the makeup.

Molly feels her face heat up and she awkwardly sits in her bed, her legs criss crossed. “Um. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Molly Page. Sorry again.”

Rosa glances up and shrugs. “I told you, it’s fine. You don’t have to apologize. I’m not, like, hurt or anything.”

Molly just feels her face heat up even more. “Oh, I’m Canadian. I suppose I’m like the stereotype. I’m so—“ but she catches herself right away and hides her face with her hands.

A smile breaks Rosa’s porcelain face and she laughs a bit. Molly relaxes too and chuckles a bit but she can still feel a drip of sweat fall from her neck.

“I’m Rosa Guerrera but I suppose the entire school knows that.” Rosa begins to roll her eyes but then immediately stops and zeros in on her suitcase. “Suppose I should make my bed up too.”

“If you need some help…” Molly begins and trails off.

Rosa shakes her head. “That’s okay. I don’t want you falling again.” She smiles again and Molly’s stomach flips.

Molly mentally tells herself to stop. Tells her stomach to chill out and her body to cool down.

As Rosa begins to make her bed which is mostly pink and white sheets and blankets, she says “so what happened to your old roommate? Did she get expelled or something?”

Molly purses her lips, trying to think of something. “She...um...yeah. She got expelled.” Died would have been the best word to use, technically, but Molly doesn’t know what Rosa would do if she thought Molly’s old roommate  _ died _ .

Rosa glances up at Molly but doesn’t say anything else on the subject. Molly’s shoulders relax and drop in relief. She stands up and begins to unpack her clothes and put them in the drawers that are underneath her bed.

They work in silence for a couple of minutes, only the shouts of other girls through their walls can be heard.

It’s only when Molly pulls out her digital clock that she realizes the time. 11:54. Almost lunchtime.

“Uh, it’s almost lunchtime.” Molly states. “I promised my friend I’d meet him.” She assumes that Rosa probably doesn’t want to join her (Max probably wouldn’t mind. He  _ did _ say she should make new friends) but then she remembers that Rosa’s new. Maybe she doesn’t have any other friends. But then she wonders if maybe Rosa  _ does  _ have a friend and she’s just assuming.

Rosa turns and blinks. “Oh. Well, I guess you should be off then.”

Molly blinks right back at her. This is why she hates meeting new people. The awkwardness is clinging to her throat and making her itchy. “Aren’t you hungry too?” She gestures to Harmony Hall in the distance.

“Not really, I’ll probably come a bit later. I want to finish unpacking first.” Rosa explains. She still hasn’t unpacked most of her clothes and belongings.

“Okay,” Molly nods and she isn’t quite sure what to do next. “Well, don’t be too late. Most of the seniors find it funny to eat all the food and not leave any for the rest of us.” She pockets her whistle and tries to smile, hoping it looks natural.

Rosa smiles back. “Okay.”

“She’s actually really nice, I think. So far.” Molly tells Max at the dining hall. It’s loud and chaotic but it feels warm and comfortable. She stabs at her caesar salad, breaking a crouton in half.

“All the older guys in the dorm were talking about how pretty she was and how they are going to make some kind of dating game out of her.” Max says seriously. “I would’ve told Kiren, the senior captain but he was in on it too.” He scrunches his nose.

“I’ll definitely give her a heads up.” Molly says, making a mental note in her mind and hopes she doesn’t forget. She then changes the subject. “Let’s stop talking about my new roommate. What’s yours like?”

“Because I kind of messed up the overall numbers of boys, they couldn’t put me in a room with anyone in our grade so I’m with this kid in grade nine, Ezra Michaels.”

Molly’s eyebrows raised in recognition. “He’s got lots of bracelets?”

“You know him?”   
“Yeah,” Molly nodded, and grabbed her glass of water. “He was on my zeppelin here with two other girls. They were all gossiping about Rosa and stuff.” Then, “he’s in  _ grade nine? _ He looks like a guppy!”

“I know! When Kiren said they roomed me with a grade nine and I walked in and saw Ezra, I thought they had nailed my name to the wrong door or something.” Max takes a large bite of his hotdog.

“I think—” Molly begins but then the room goes silent. Molly looks at Max and Max looks at Molly.

And then everyone is turning in their seats to the massive doors which lead in and out of the dining hall. Molly is not the tallest person ever (she was surprised Rosa was that short), but Max cranes his neck above the heads of the other students. ‘ _ It’s Rosa _ ,’ he mouths, nodding his head over towards the entrance.

And then the shouting begins. It’s a mix of people desperately wanting to be her friend, people who are tormenting her, and people who are trying to flirt with her.

Molly doesn’t know where she stands.

And then Rosa’s head pops into view but she doesn’t seem to be focusing on anybody. She just has her gaze set straight, probably just trying to find an open seat and be done with it all.

Molly is about to ask Max to ask her over but Max seems way ahead of her. “Rosa! It’s me and Molly! Come sit with us.”

And it’s like Rosa snaps out of her trance. Her head snaps around and she zeros in on Molly and Max, fast walking closer to them, a determined look set in her eyes.

The hall goes almost silent again as everyone seems to watch Molly and Max slide apart to let Rosa sit between them. 

Molly can hear Rosa breathe out a long stream of air. She tucks a long piece of hair behind her ear and Molly is unsurprised that her posture is perfect as she sits at the backless benches.

Molly isn’t sure whether she wishes that she had offered to walk Rosa over to the dining hall. Because she isn’t sure whether she could have handled everything—even if all the attention was directed at Rosa and not her.

“Thanks guys.” Rosa says, and she takes an empty plate from the middle of the table.

“No problem,” Max replies and his hand moves up to clap her lovingly on the back but then he seems to think better of it. “Half of those students are being jerks anyway.”

“You did good, though.” Molly says, amazed. “It’s like you never even  _ heard  _ any of them.”

That night, Molly regrets saying those words. As she stares up at the ceiling, pretending to be asleep, it’s obvious that Rosa _ did _ hear those awful words at lunch as she cries herself softly to sleep.


End file.
